Christmas in July - Salt Dough Mushroom Ornaments
For this month's "craft with me" 12 months of Christmas ornaments series, we are making old-fashioned salt dough ornaments!
You may have made these as a child or with your own, now-grown children in the late 1970s and 1980s when personalized salt dough ornaments were popular.
But salt dough dates back to ancient Egypt and was quite popular in Europe - particularly in Germany long before the 70s and 80s. The tradition of making these ornaments made its way to America with the German immigrants.
I'm putting a more modern spin on them by making mushroom ornaments from the dough!
Christmas in July - Salt Dough Mushroom Ornaments
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Here are the supplies you'll need and the 3-ingredient salt dough recipe:
- Salt dough (recipe below)
- Something to roll out the dough with (rolling pin, pop can, etc.)
- Mushroom cookie cutter (or a template to trace)
- Acrylic craft paint in red and white
- Small paint brushes
- Ribbon to use for an ornament hanger
- A straw for making the hanger hole
- Triple thick glaze or Glossy Mod Podge (optional)
- 1 c. flour
- 1/2 c. salt
- 1/2 c. warm water
As always, I have created a YouTube video tutorial as well as the written tutorial below the video 😊
Step 1 - Mix the dough
The recipe above will create approximately ten 3- to 4-inch ornaments. Double it if you'd like to make more.
Mix the flour, salt, and water together and knead the dough with your hands until it's thoroughly mixed. Let the dough rest for about 20 minutes.
TIP: You can prepare the dough beforehand and store it in a zip-lock bag.
Step 2 - Cut out the ornaments
Roll out the dough to a thickness of about 1/4 inch and cut out the ornaments.
Step 3 - Bake the ornaments
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit, and bake the ornaments for about 30 minutes.
Step 4 - Paint the ornaments
Paint the mushroom caps red and the stem white.
Step 5 - add a hanger, sign your ornaments, and share them in the Facebook thread!
Use some coordinating ribbon to create an ornament hanger and don't forget to sign the backs of your ornaments!
- Use them to create a garland for a tree or fireplace mantle.
- Use that as package gift tags by writing "From" and "To" on the back.
- Personalize them by writing the name on the front of the stem.
- Turn them into magnets.
Retro Christmas Ornaments DIY - Christmas in January
Spun Cotton Ornaments DIY - Christmas in February
Old-Fashioned Felt and Sequin Ornaments - Christmas in March
Clothespin Dolls - Christmas in April
Retro Drum Ornaments - Christmas in May
Macrame Santa Ornaments - Christmas in June
I hope that you enjoyed this month's tutorial! If you did, I'd love it if you would share it 😊
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These are so cute and what a good idea to use them as gift tags!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Vikki!
DeleteYour mushrooms are adorable Tania!
ReplyDeleteThank you :)
DeleteThose are so cute Tania! I never made them in the past, but you did make it look easy.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
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